For Antony Gormley, Sculpture Is the Most Challenging Form of Art An interview with the artist
By Paul Laster
Celebrated for his sculptures, drawings, installations, and public works that explore how the human body relates to space, Antony Gormley uses the body as a symbol of memory and change, reflecting on human existence and the connection between individuals and their environment. Using casts and scans of himself (and others in collaborative projects), the 1994 Turner Prize winner emphasizes the void once occupied by the body, highlighting absence, while encouraging viewers to see their own presence within the space. By using simple human forms without specific facial features or narrative, the sculptures become anonymous symbols that allow viewers to project their own experiences and connect with the artwork.
Spanning Gormley’s career from his experimental work in the early 1980s to the present, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas is hosting the first major museum survey of the 75-year-old artist’s work in the U.S. Carefully curated for Renzo Piano’s light-filled architecture by Chief Curator Jed Morse, “SURVEY: Antony Gormley” features a focused selection of seventeen major sculptures from the artist’s 45-year career, displayed alongside sculptural works by other artists—ranging from Alberto Giacometti and Jean Arp to Carl Andre and Ana Mendieta—that Gormley chose from the Nasher’s impressive collection.
These works are displayed on the museum’s ground floor and outdoor terrace, overlooking its marvelous sculpture garden. On the Nasher’s lower level, models from the artist’s studio reference over 60 large-scale projects, both unrealized and completed, from around the world, along with pages from more than 100 workbooks that the artist has kept with him continually since the 1970s. Topping off the show, Gormley is debuting an urban installation on the museum’s rooftop and on the upper levels of nearby skyscrapers in downtown Dallas, featuring six skeletal figures gazing out over the cityscape.
